Landon in The Literary Gazette 1826/Iole
Literary Gazette, 7th January, 1826, Pages 10-11
ORIGINAL POETRY.
IOLE.
'Tis a vain folly, and I know it such;
Yet who has not some weakness which the heart
Has made an idol? 'Tis thus with the name
That to my lute is as the vizard is,
Which hides the masquer's face. I have no hope,
Nay, scarce the wish, for fame; but yet it soothes,
And gives me somewhat of a social feeling,
To think that some, albeit they know me not,
May share the grief that taught me poetry.
Beloved mine! Iole has a sound
Breathing of other days, and linked with thee:
'Tis not the first time I have borne that name.
When but a boy, (for I was fair and pale,
And had some likeness to an antique gem,)
In some young frolic, garb'd as a Greek girl,
Named from that cameo with Iole's name,
I taught my lute its earliest song of love,
Pouring my feelings under that disguise,
lanthe, thou wast spirit of that song.—
It was my first disguise, it is my last,—
And both alike are thine,
Iole.